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Bruins' Julien: "Do you want my guys to start diving?"

March 19, 2016, 3:38 AM ET [20 Comments]
Ty Anderson
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As Rebecca Black sang, you gotta get down on Friday. And the Boston Bruins wasted no time in doing that in their visit to the Honda Center, as Jonas Gustavsson and the Bruins surrendered four goals, and countered with none, en route to an ugly 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks.

The Ducks struck with two goals in the opening 4:07 of the first period, the first off Jamie McGinn, and the second batted home by Ryan Kesler off a juicy rebound. McGinn’s 18th of the season -- and his fourth in just nine games with the Ducks -- and Kesler’s 16th of the season, would hold as the only goals in an opening 20 that came with chances for the Black and Gold.

As the teams jostled to a scoreless middle frame, Anaheim put this one away just 58 seconds into the third period with Hampus Lindholm’s ninth goal of the season.

And though they hardly needed it with Frederik Andersen standing on his head, the Ducks found an additional insurance marker with Rickard Rakell’s 19th of the year, at 14:28 of the third.

The Boston power play went 0-for-2 in the loss, with both opportunities coming in the first period.

Andersen finished the night 38-of-38, and is now undefeated in four career games against Boston.

Gustavsson made 22 saves on 26 shots against.

Random thoughts and notes

- The Bruins are sick of getting jobbed by the referees.




You know, he might not be wrong here.




- Off since Tuesday, was it weird to see Gustavsson get the nod over Tuukka Rask? At first glance, sure, but this was not a decision that I really think you could take too much of an issue with given the circumstances. With a date with the Kings on tap for tomorrow, and with Rask’s sour career numbers against Anaheim (one win and an .873 save percentage in six career games), B’s coach Claude Julien’s decision to go with Gustavsson for the first time in over a week made sense.

- The big roster switch-up for this one? Jimmy Hayes was a healthy scratch, and Tyler Randell came back into the lineup for his first game since Feb. 18. Hayes’ scratch seemed like it was a long time coming. It had been 10 games since Hayes scored (just one goal in his last 17 games overall), and it was Hayes’ penalty that led to the game-winning goal against in San Jose on Tuesday. Honestly, Hayes responded well to his last healthy scratching, so maybe Julien is hoping for the same.

Up next

It’s a quick turnaround for the Bruins, as they’ll square off with the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night. The Kings straight-up embarrassed the Bruins to a 9-2 final in their only prior head-to-head this season. Without a win in the first two games of this trip, expect a desperate effort from Boston.

Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
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